The shell model approach—Key to hadron structure?

Abstract

A shell model approach leads to a simple constituent quark model for hadron structure in which mesons and baryons consist only of constituent quarks. Hadron masses are the sums of the constituents quark effective masses and a hyperfine interaction inversely proportional to the product of these same masses. Hadron masses and magnetic moments are related by the assumption that the same effective mass parameter appears in the additive mass term, the hyperfine interaction, and the quark magnetic moment, both in mesons and baryons. The analysis pinpoints the physical assumptions needed for each relation and gives two new mass relations. Application to weak decays and recent polarized EMC data confirms conclusions previously obtained that the current quark contribution to the spin structure of the proton vanishes, but without need for the questionable assumption of SU(3) symmetry relating hyperon decays and proton structure. SU(3) symmetry breaking is clarified.